Devlog #8- Powers

Hello again, I’m tired and I forgot that today was the day I do devlogs but I’m committed to doing them weekly so let’s go. 

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Powers

Each turn a party member has four options- HIT, SPIN, POW or RUN. In this devlog I’m gonna talk about the third option POW, as in Power.

A character’s power is their ultimate move, much like a fighting game it needs to be charged up before use, and can have a huge effect on battle.

After a character’s power is unlocked,they’ll gain a power-gauge below their turn-order icon (pictured above). This is divided into segments, and the amount will vary depending on the character and can be altered in their upgrade tree.

There are 3 ways to fill the gauge-

     1. At the start of a player’s turn, the gauge will fill up by 1 segment.

     2. Each time a player is hit (deflected or not) the gauge will fill up by 1 segment.

     3. Choosing the POW option in the menu when the gauge is not full will double all gauge gained until the character’s next turn.

Once their gauge is full, a character can choose POW , which will take them to another room briefly for a short character-specific minigame. These are time limited, and work similar to a warioware minigame with simple controls, aiming for the highest score possible. When the timer is up, you are returned to the main battle area and that score is then dealt as damage to the enemies, and your gauge is reset to zero.

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The Minigames

I’ve got ideas for all of the character minigames I plan to implement so far, but I’ve only started implementing the two pictured below.
There will be opportunities to strengthen powers, but it will also make the minigames harder. e.g. additional mechanics, possible penalties resulting in zero damage or self-inflicted damage.

Rina’s power is a simple dodge and collect minigame with wind-based movement. Additional hazards are added as her power is upgraded.
(Still a work in progess)

Momo’s power is a serve’m’up minigame in a ramen shop. Ghosts from the crowd take part, demanding different toppings.
I created and entered this as a separate game to the GMC game jam, so it’s the most polished so far.

Boss Powers

I intend to add this power function to boss enemies too, in which each of your attacks will fill up a segment of their gauge and you’ll have to strategise around this. These minigames will also be uniquely themed after each boss, but the character you play as would be replaced depending on who's being targeted by the attack. (I have 8 direction movement sprites for all recruit-able characters that can be subbed in quite easily)

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Gauges stay filled across battles

I considered resetting the gauge with each battle to avoid hording, but I think allowing it to carry over between battles adds more to the survival element of the game. While it does allow players to save their powers for a difficult enemy, and in the process use them less often, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing.

It all comes back to the limited healing options I've written about previously. Using a power can finish off a battle much faster, leaving the player with more health to face a difficult enemy. On the other hand, purposely charging a power gauge will require starting another battle before a boss, which will likely result in some loss of health. So the mechanic as a whole becomes a give and take between “Should I start the battle with the power gauge full or more health?”.

Avoiding the grind

“What if I just go to a low level enemy and get hit for zero damage until my gauge is charged before every battle” you say?

Well I have a few work arounds for that. Much like Earthbound, the game that Nagayami Nights takes it’s biggest inspiration from, lower level enemies will start being afraid of you as you get stronger. So instead of them jumping out at you, they will remain hidden and any contact will win the battle without even starting, leaving no weak enemy to grind.

And even if you do find a ‘grindable’ battle, I’ve made it difficult to continue that grind because of a feature you may have noticed-
My game has no DEFEND or SKIPTURN options. This means that you are forced to finish enemies off whether you want to or not.

There is some leeway with the ability to use POW when your gauge is not full to skip your turn, but eventually one of your party members is going to be fully charged and have to use an attack. Also there are some characters with attacks that can fail, but in most cases this will self-inflict damage and any plan to avoid damage backfires.
...Although, these limitations aren’t so strict that a smart player couldn’t find a way around with enough planning ahead.

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Thanks for reading! Writing this week's devlog in particular has really helped me develop this mechanic in my own head.
Comment below or DM me on twitter if I you have any opinions, especially any pointing out holes in my design.

You can wishlist Nagayami Nights: Prologue on Steam >>here<<
Back here again next Wednesday!